Hand tool for radially applying locking rings or the like



1966 G. o. CQNNER 3,268,993

HAND TOOL FOR RADIALLY APPLYING LOCKING RINGS OR THE LIKE Fiied Oct. 9, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Elam/lit...

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ATTORNEY G. O. CONNER Aug. 30, 1966 HAND TOOL FOR RADIALLY APPLYING LOCKING RINGS OR THE LIKE Filed Oct. 9, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 N5 M3 .93 M5 I/VI/EIVTOR. GUY 0. CON/YER ATTORNEY Aug. 30, 1966 G. o. CONNER 3,268,993

HAND TOOL FOR RADIALLY APPLYING LOCKING RINGS OR THE LIKE Filed Oct. 9, 1963 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet a H6. /4 F/G.

IN VEN TOR. 61/) 0 C ON/VE R M LL4&

ATTORNEY Aug. 30, 1966 G. o. CONNER HAND TOOL FOR RADIALLY APPLYING LOCKING RINGS OR THE LIKE Filed Oct. 9,

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

GUY 0. GOA/IVER azzwa w ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,268,993 HAND TOOL FUR RADIALLY APPLYING LOCKING RINGS OR THE LIKE Guy 0. Conner, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Waldes Kohinoor, Inc., Long Island City, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 314,903 18 Claims. (Cl. 29212) This invention relates to hand tools which are especially designed for radially applying locking rings or the like such as the locking ring disclosed and claimed in my United States Patent No. 2,888,852.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel ring applying tool.

It is another object to provide a ring applying tool which is simple, inexpensive and requires little or no maintenance.

It is another object to provide a locking ring applying tool which is easy to use and rapid in operation.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings forms which are presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view, partly in section, of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the collet driving sleeve.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the tool housing.

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation view, partly in section, of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation view, partly in section, of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7--7 in FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is an end elevation view of the tool in FIG- URE 6.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 10 is an end elevation view of the tool in FIG- URE 9.

FIGURE 11 is a side elevation view of a tool in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 12 is a view taken along the line 12-12 in FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 13 is a plan view of a locking ring adapted to be utilized with the tool of FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 14 is a fragmentary section view of the righthand end of the tool taken along line 14-44 in FIGURE 12.

FIGURE 15 is a view similar to FIGURE 14 but showing the locking ring applied and taken along line 1515 in FIGURE 12.

FIGURE 16 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tool in FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 17 is a partial side elevation view, partly in section, of another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is illustrated in FIG- URES 1-4 a tool designated generally as 5. The tool 5 comprises a housing identified in its entirety as 2. Housing 2 is somewhat channel-shaped in cross sectional configuration and has legs 3 which may be conveniently grasped by the operators hand to manipulate the tool. The housing 2 has a circular head portion formed on one end and into which a block member 6 is inserted and rigidly fastened thereto.

3,268,993 Patented August 30, 1966 The block member 6 is internally threaded at one end as is indicated at 8 and into which one end. of a collet 10 is threadably disposed. Member 6 is provided with diametrically opposite axially directed grooves 9 and 11.

The collet 10 is substantially cylindrical in configuration having a plurality of circumferentially spaced and longitudinally extending slots 13 formed in the wall thereof so as to define a plurality of collet fingers 12 which are of arcuate cross sectional configuration, each of said fingers having an enlarged outwardly flared head 14 formed on its free end.

The collet 10 is counterbored as at 15, the walls 15a of the counterbore being at an inclination of approximately 12 degrees with respect to the axis of the collet, said counterbore being of adequate depth and of sufficient diameter as to have the ring member snapped therein and to be held therein under slight resilience so that it will not fall out of said counterbore when the tool is held in the position such as is shown in FIGURE 1.

The collet wall is slotted so as to preferably form at least six collet fingers, however, as will be apparent a lesser or greater number of collet fingers may be formed to adequately function in the manner intended.

A collet driving sleeve 16 which is generally cylindrical in configuration is placed over the block element 6 being of suificient diameter as to freely slide thereover, said sleeve having spaced arms 16a formed on the rearward end thereof and which are securely fastened to a driving head 17 by means of fasteners 20. As shown in FIG- URE 1, a suitable coil spring 22 interposed between the adjacent ends of the block element 6 and the head 17 biases the collet driving sleeve 16 to its normal rest position spaced rearwardly along the collet 10.

The sleeve 16 is preferably formed at its forward end with an enlarged head part 16]).

When it is desired to place the locking ring in a circumferential groove on a shaft assembly of the type such as is disclosed in FIGURE 4 of my Patent 2,888,852, the ring is placed within the counterbore 15 and the shaft is then inserted into the center of the collet 10 to the depth sufficiently to locate the locking ring directly opposite the shaft groove. The collet driving sleeve 16 is then slidably moved over the collet toward the collet heads 14 whereby the collet fingers 12 are each swung radially inwardly toward the center of the collet which action is effective to radially compact or compress the locking ring forcing the same into the shaft groove without distorting its planar and/or circular configuration and by reducing its diameter sufficiently so that the ring is retained within the shaft groove.

To slide the collet driving sleeve 16, the instant embodiment of hand tool as is shown in FIGURES 14, is provided with an elongated trigger 24 which, as best seen in FIGURE 1 is pivotally attached to the housing at a position spaced from its one end as indicated at 25. Said adjacent end of said trigger rollably mounts a roller 26 which engages the rearward wall of the driving head 17 whereupon as the trigger 24 is pivoted about its pivotal connection with the housing in a counterclockwise direction from that as is shown in FIGURE 1, the driving head 17 is moved to the left against the pressure spring 22 eifective to slide the collet driving sleeve 16 to the left in the direction of the arrow a whereby the sleeve head 16b engages the outwardly flanged wall of each collet head 14 to thus swing said fingers radially inwardly toward the center of the collet 10 which radially compacts or compresses the locking ring to its desired configuration.

Although not shown in FIGURE 1, the end wall 17a of the driving block 17 may be formed so as to be slightly concave so as to prevent the trigger from becoming jammed or locked in its actuated position at which posi- 3 tion the pivot 25 and the axis of the roller 26 are in substantial alignment with respect to the axis of the tool.

In FIGURE 5 there is shown a hand tool for radially expanding the locking ring and is seen to comprise a channel shaped housing 30 which is somewhat similar to the housing as shown in the previous embodiment, and into one end of which is disposed a spool shaped head 32, said head having an aperture formed centrally therein as is indicated at 33.

The head 32 is preferably formed with an internally threaded neck 32a into which is threadably disposed the threaded end of a collet sleeve 34, said sleeve likewise being slotted longitudinally therealong at spaced c1rcumferential intervals as is indicated at 35 to form a plurality of collet fingers 36.

The collet sleeve 34 is formed at its free end with an annular groove as is identified at 38, the wall 38a thereof being inclined approximately 12 degrees inwardly with respect to the axis of the collet from left to right as is viewed in FIGURE 5.

An elongated rod 42 is disposed in the collet 34 extending centrally through the head 32 and has an enlarged boss formed on its rearward end as is viewed at 45.

A suitable coil spring 47 disposed over said rod and interposed thereon between an annular rim 48 formed on the threaded end of the collet 34 and a shoulder 49 formed on the enlarged end of the collet rod 42 adjacent its b os 45 is effective to bias said rod to the right.

A trigger 51 is shown to be pivoted as at 52 to the housing and has a roller 53 rollably mounted on its adjacent end and which engages the adjacent wall 45a of the boss 45.

With this assembly, by swinging the trigger 51 in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot 52, the roller 53 thereof rollably engages the boss 45 and is effective to slide the collet rod 42 t t e left or in the direction of the arrow sufficiently to swing the spaced collet fingers 36 outwardly which, in turn, is effective to radially expand the locking ring. This assembly is preferably utilized when it is desired to dispose the locking ring formed in a counterbore or like installation such as the assembly shown in FIGURE of my aforesaid Patent 2,888,852.

In FIGURES 6-10, there is illustrated air operated tools particularly adapted for use with the locking ring as disclosed in my above-mentioned patent. The tool illustrated in FIGURE 6 is designated generally as rec. Tool 100 comprises a cylindrical housing 103, on one end of which is securely fastened a cap 104, said cap communicating through conduit 105 to a suitable source of hydraulic fluid. Cap 104 has a suitable passageway 6 formed therein communicating with the interior of said housing. A chuck 9 is threadably mounted on the opposite end of the housing 103 and is provided with an internally threaded aperture 110 into which is disposed the threaded end of collet 112.

The collet 112 is generally cylindrical in configuration being slotted longitudinally therealong at spaced circumferential intervals as is indicated at 112a to thus form elongated collet fingers 1120 which are of arcuate cross sectional configuration. The head of the collet is seen to be outwardly flanged as to form flanged segments 112s on the end of each of said collet fingers.

A collet actuating sleeve 115 is disposed over the collet 112, one end thereof being positioned to engage the front wall 117 of the chuck 9 and the opposite end engaging the outwardly flanged wall of each of the collet head segments 112s. As best seen in FIGURE 6, the head of the collet 112 is counterbored as is seen at 119 to thusdefine an annular shoulder 120.

With the collet in the position as is shown in FIGURE 6 a locking ring of the type described in my United States Patent 2,888,852 may be placed within the counterbore 119 so that its one face rests against the annular shoulder 120. The outer wall 121 of the counterbore 119 is at a slight inclination such as for example a 12 degree inclination with respect to the axis of the collet 112. Wall 121 inclines outwardly from left to right as viewed in FIGURE 6 with respect to the axis of the collet whereby the lip defining the collet recess is of such diameter as to be in slight retentive engagement with the locking ring and thus operable to retain the latter in place. This prevents the ring from falling out of the counterbore when the tool is moved from a horizontal to an angular position.

With the locking ring disposed in the counterbore 119, the sleeve is actuated to move along the collet 112 from right to left whereby it presses against the outer flanged wall of the flanged head of said collet effective to swing each of the collet fingers 112a radially inwardly toward the center of the collet effective to radially compress against the locking ring whereby the diameter of the same is decreased.

To accomplish this, a piston 125 is disposed within the housing 103 being of such diameter as to be freely slidable therein. Piston 125 has suitable sealing means 126 thus preventing the pressure fluid entering into the housing through passageways 6' from leaking therearound.

A lever 127 generally of L-shaped configuration is pivotally attached at its one corner to pin 128 mounted on bracket 130 which, in turn, is rigidly attached to the side wall of the housing 103 so as to extend into the housing chamber.

Said lever 127 at its opposite corner, is similarly attached by pin 131 to one end of post 133 attached to the piston 125. Intermediate the pivoted ends of the lever 127 a roller 134 is rollably mounted thereto on pin 138.

A spool member is disposed in the housing chamber being of such dimension as to be freely slidably movable therein, said spool member being interposed therein between a pair of driving pins 142 slidably mounted with in the chuck 9' and the aforementioned roller 134.

A suitable spring such as coil spring 143 is interposed between one end of the spool member 140 and an inner annular shoulder formed within the chuck 9. Spring 143 is effective to bias said spool member 140 against the roller 134.

For a purpose to be hereinafter more apparent, the rear wall 144 of the spool member 140 over which the roller 134 rides may also be of slightly concave configuration.

With this assembly, and with pressure fluid entering the housing chamber by way of the conduit 105, the piston 125 will be forced through the housing chamber from right to left as viewed in FIGURE 6 toward the chuck 9' which will be effective to swing the lever 127 in a clockwise direction about pivot pin 128 whereby the spool member 140 slides likewise to the left forcing the drive pins 142 to engage the adjacent end of the collet driving sleeve 115 resulting thereby in sliding the said sleeve along the collet 112. As a result, the collet fingers 1120 are swung radially inwardly toward each other suflicient to radially compress the locking ring R disposed in the counterbore 119.

A suitable hand control lever such as is indicated at 146 may be pivotally attached at 147 to the housing 103 so as to engage a valve operating plunger 148 of a conventional fluid control valve 150 mounted in the cap 104 of the housing, which valve 150 is in controlling relation with the pressure fluid entering into the passageway through conduit 105 being thus effective to control the application of said pressure fluid into the housing.

In FIGURE 9, I have herein shown the embodiment of an air operated tool 100' for radially expanding a locking ring or like element. Tool 100' is similar to tool 100 and several corresponding elements are provided with corresponding numerals.

In this embodiment, a collet as identified in its entirety at is threadably mounted within the chunk 9, said collet being likewise slotted longitudinally along its wall at spaced intervals circumferentially therearound as to i define collet fingers 1600. The collet 160 is generally of cylindrical configuration having an interior bore formed centrally therethrough as is indicated at 162, said bore progressively decreasing in diameter as to define a constricted end portion as is indicated at 163.

A driving rod 165 is disposed in the collet bore 62 and has its one end as indicated at 167 threaded into the spool member 146' so as to be actuatable with the same. The rod 165 is formed with a bullet shaped head 168 which as seen in FIGURE 9 is intended to be normally disposed within the constricted end portion 163 of the collet bore 162.

The head 164 of the collet is formed with an annular shoulder 1'72 onto which is received a locking ring. The wall 173 defining one side of the shoulder 172 is preferably inclined at an angle approximately 12 degrees from the end of the collet head inwardly therefrom toward the axis of the collet. The diameter of the collet head as is identified at cl being of such dimension as to retain the locking ring thereon with sufiicient retentive pressure as to prevent the ring from slipping oif the shoulder when the tool is manipulated into position.

With a locking ring disposed on the aforesaid shoulder 172, the spool member 140' is actuated toward the collet head in the same manner as in the previous embodiment of tool which is efiective to force the driving rod 165 to the left toward the constricted end portion 163 of the collet bore which results in swinging the collet fingers 1600 radially outwardly whereby a radially outwardly directed pressure is applied to the ring effective to expand the same such that it may be disposed and locked within a counterbore or like installation.

In FIGURES 11-17, there is illustrated manually operable magazine tools in accordance with the present invention. The tool 200, illustrated in FIGURES 11-16, includes a tubular sleeve 56 having a plurality of teeth 51' formed on one end. Teeth 51 are preferably equally spaced circumferentially around said one end of said sleeve 50, being generally of rectangular configuration, and extending longitudinally outwardly from said one end. Teeth 51 preferably have the side 51a thereof facing the axis of the sleeve 50 at an inclination of approximately 12 degrees. Said side 51a extends from its point of juncture with the inner Wall of the sleeve thence outwardly of said one end of sleeve 50 and inwardly toward the axis of the latter. Thus, the tips of teeth 51 lie on a circle having a diameter slightly less than the inner diameter of sleeve 56.

A cylindrical collet 54 is mounted on the sleeve 50. Collet 54 has an enlarged outwardly flanged head 55 and is slotted longitudinally at spaced intervals circumferentially therearound so as to define axially extending collet fingers 56. The inner diameter of collet 5d and its fingers 56 is slightly greater than the outer diameter of sleeve 50 by a distance such as .1 inch.

As seen in FIGURE 12, the spaced arcuate head segments 57 thus formed on the head 55 of each finger 56 are provided with a recess on each side which accommodates one of the aforesaid teeth 51 formed on the adjacent end of the sleeve. In assembled form, each segment 57 has an arcuate radially inwardly directed lip 61 overlying the end face of sleeve 50 between adjacent teeth 51' and has an end face preferably coplanar with the end face of teeth 51'.

The collet assembly including the collet 54 and sleeve 50 is disposed in the tool housing which in its instant form is seen to include a cylinder 58 hingedly attached at its one end 59 to one end of link member 66, the opposite end of said link member 66 being similarly attached or mounted to the tool trigger 62 preferably closely adjacent one end of the latter. A collar 64 is fastened to said adjacent end of the trigger 62 and is intended to slidably receive the threaded end 65 of collet retaining sleeve 67.

In assembling the tool as thus far described, the threaded end 65 of the collet sleeve 67 is passed into and through the collar 64 and the sleeve 50 is then inserted into the cylinder 58, collet sleeve 67 and collar 64.

Suitable fasteners as indicated at 70, threadably disposed in the collet sleeve 67 and threaded into suitable apertures formed in the sleeve 50, securely fasten said sleeve 50 to the collet sleeve 67.

Lock rings 75 threadably disposed on the threaded end 65 of the collet sleeve 67 on opposite sides of the collar 65 may be tightened against said collar sufiicient to couple said sleeve 67 to the latter.

With this assembly, it will not be seen that as the trigger 62 is pivoted about its connection 78 with the collar 64, it will be eifective to slide the cylinder 58 to the right as viewed in FIGURE 11 and. into engagement with the collet heads 55 to thus result in swinging the collet fingers 56 radially inwardly toward the center of sleeve 50.

A locking ring R of the type shown in FIGURE 13 may be disposed within the sleeve 50 so as to be peripherally engaged by the lip 61 on each collet head 55. Upon actuation of said head as described above, the ring R will be radially compressed so that its outer diameter is slightly smaller than the circle defined by the tips of teeth 51. Only the last ring R is compressed because it is the only ring in the zone of the lip 61.

As before mentioned, the instant embodiment of the tool is provided with a magazine in which a plurality of locking rings or the like may be disposed and thus in position ready to be used.

For this purpose, a threaded rod is threadably mounted preferably centrally within a cap member 87 suitably secured Within the sleeve 56 on the end thereof opposite the teeth 51. Said rod extends centrally longitudinally through the sleeve 50, the opposite end thereof extending through a spool member 99.

A suitable nut 92 is threadably disposed on the end of the rod 85, the spool being biased by spring member 93 interposed between the cap member 87 and the spool 91) against the nut 92. As best seen in FIGURE 16, the rod member is preferably formed with a bullet shaped end 94 which acts as a means of aligning and properly positioning a shaft or other article upon which a locking ring is to be disposed centrally within the sleeve 51t1lafso that the locking ring is properly mounted on the S t.

The rod 85 preferably has a knob 95 on its end projecting out of the cap member 87 whereby the rod may be effectively threaded to position the bullet-shaped end 94 thereof at any predetermined distance .from the end of the sleeve 56 thus enabling various lengths of shift to be inserted into the latter whereby a locking ring may be attached thereto.

The nut 91 and member 87 may also be adjusted on the rod 85 to thereby change the spring bias of spring 93 acting on the spool 90 in a manner as will be readily understood.

The tool may be loaded with a plurality of locking rings by unscrewing the cap member 87 from the sleeve 50 and then inserting the desired number of locking rings into the sleeve and thereafter replacing the cap member 87 and rod assembly into the sleeve so that the spool 90 engages the last locking ring in the stack eifective to press the stack toward the teeth 51.

In FIGURE 17, an air operated form of magazine is herein disclosed and which is seen to include a hollow tubing 212 which may be formed of rigid or flexible material, one end of which is connected to the end of the sleeve 50, the opposite being connected by conduit 214 to a suitable source of pressure fluid. Sleeve 50 and the remainder of the tool corresponds to the structure in FIGURES 11-16.

A piston 216 which may also be formed of a rigid or flexible material is disposed within the tube 212 being freely slidable therein and is intended to press against the end of a stack of locking rings R, said stack being disposed within the sleeve 50 and passing freely through the tube 212 to thus provide for pneumatically feeding the locking rings to the collet head of the tool.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foreging specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A tool for applying a radial force on a circular locking ring comprising a collet, said collet having a plurality of spaced substantially parallel fingers extending at an axial direction thereof, the free ends of said fingers having a different cross sectional configuration as compared with the remainder of the fingers, said free ends of said fingers being adapted to cooperate with a circular locking ring for applying a radial force suflicient to distort the ring, means fixedly supporting said collet and reciprocally supporting an element structurally interrelated with said fingers so that said element in one position thereof applies a biasing force on the fingers to effect the radial distortion of the locking ring, and a manually operable actuator pivotably supported by said means and structurally interrelated with said element for moving said element in an axial direction with respect to said collet.

2. A tool for applying a radial force to a ring to deform the ring in a radial direction comprising a housing structure, a collet fixedly connected to said housing structure, said collet having a plurality of collet fingers extending in an axial direction, said fingers being adapted to support a ring coaxially with respect to the collet, a movably supported actuator member for moving said fingers in a radial direction to deform the ring supported by the fingers, said member being disposed coaxially with respect to said collet, and means supported by said housing structure for causing movement of said member to a position wherein it moves said fingers in said radial direction.

3. A tool in accordance with claim 2 wherein said last mentioned means includes a linkage member pivotably connected to the housing structure and coupled to said member.

4. A tool in accordance with claim 2 including a spring means supported by said housing for moving said member in an axial direction away from the free ends of the fingers.

5. A tool in accordance with claim 2 wherein said member is a sleeve surrounding said fingers.

6. A tool in accordance with claim 2 wherein said member is a rod member disposed radially inwardly of the fingers.

7. A tool in accordance with claim 2 including a magazine coaxially disposed with respect to said collet, said magazine being adapted to support a plurality of rings, said member being a sleeve coaxial with respect to said collet, said fingers having a cam surface on one peripheral surface and a ring engaging lip on an opposite peripheral surface, said sleeve being adapted to contact the cam surfaces on the fingers to cause the lips to radially deform the ring in one position of the sleeve.

8. A tool in accordance with claim 2 wherein said means includes a head connected to said member, and an element rotatably supported by said housing structure and engaging said head.

9. A tool in accordance with claim 8 including a piston means within said housing connected to a link supporting said element, and spring means within said housing biasing said head toward the piston means.

10. A tool for radially compressing a circular locking ring comprising a housing, a collet fixedly attached to said housing and formed with a plurality of collet fingers, said locking ring being disposed in said collet surrounded by said fingers, piston means in said housing, means for moving said piston means through said housing, a member coaxial and movable with respect to said collet, lever means connected between said member and said piston means and responsive to the actuation of said piston means through said housing to move said member with respect to said collet to move said fingers in a radial direction so as to radially deform the locking ring.

11. In a tool as is defined in claim 10 and wherein the piston means is actuated by a source of pressure fluid and conduit means connected to the housing for delivering a pressure fluid thereunto for actuating the piston means.

12. In a tool as is defined in claim 10 and wherein the member is a rod disposed radially inwardly of the fingers, one of the rod and fingers having a cam surface thereon so that axial movement of the rod causes the tips of the fingers to move radially outwardly.

13. A tool in accordance with claim 10 wherein said member is a hollow sleeve surrounding the fingers, one of the fingers and sleeve having a cam surface thereon so that axial movement of the sleeve causes movement of the tips of the fingers in a radial direction.

14. A tool for radially compressing a circular locking ring comprising a collet formed with a plurality of collet fingers, said locking ring being adapted to be disposed in said collet so as to be surrounded by said fingers, a plurality of teeth on said collet effective to retain the locking ring therein, and a sleeve movably disposed on said collet and actuatable to swing said fingers radially inwardly effective to radially compress said ring.

15. In a tool as is defined in claim 14 and wherein one edge of each of said teeth is inclined with respect to the axis of the collet so as to retentively retain the locking ring in said collet.

16. A tool for radially compressing a circular locking ring comprising a housing, a collet formed with a plurality of collet fingers disposed on said housing, a magazine of locking rings disposed in said collet surrounded by said fingers, a plurality of teeth interposed between said fingers and in engagement with said ring effective to retentively secure said rings in said collet, a sleeve movable over said collet, and means actuatable to move said sleeve and swing said fingers radially inwardly so as to compress the outermost locking ring.

17. In a tool as is defined in claim 16 and wherein the teeth are formed with an inclined face for engagement with the periphery of the locking rings effective to retentively retain said rings in said collet.

18. In a tool as is defined in claim 16 including fluid pressure means biasing said rings toward said teeth.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,012,313 12/ 1961 Erdmann 29-229 3,015,882 1/1962 Erdmann 29-229 3,030,700 4/1962 Jensen 29-229 3,177,565 4/1965 Martin 29-212 X 3,177,566 4/1965 Hester 29-212 X JOHN F. CAMPBELL, Primary Examiner.

THOMAS H. EAGER, Examiner. 

1. A TOOL FOR APPLYING A RADIAL FORCE ON A CIRCULAR LOCKING RING COMPRISING A COLLET, SAID COLLET HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL FINGERS EXTENDING AT AN AXIAL DIRECTION THEREOF, THE FREE ENDS OF SAID FINGERS HAVING A DIFFERENT CROSS SECTIONAL CONFIGURATION AS COMPARED WITH THE REMAINDER OF THE FINGERS, SAID FREE ENDS OF SAID FINGERS BEING ADAPTED TO COOPERATE WITH A CIRCULAR LOCKING RING FOR APPLYING A RADIAL FORCE SUFFICIENT TO DISTORT THE RING, MEANS FIXEDLY SUPPORTING SAID COLLET AND RECIPROCALLY SUPPORTING AN ELEMENT STRUCTURALLY INTERRELATED WITH SAID FINGERS SO THAT SAID ELEMENT IN ONE POSITION THEREOF APPLIES A BIASING FORCE ON THE FINGERS TO EFFECT THE RADIAL DISTORTION OF THE LOCK RING, AND A MANUALLY OPERABLE ACTUATOR PIVOTABLY SUPPORTED BY SAID MEANS AND STRUCTURALLY INTERRELATED WITH SAID ELEMENT FOR MOVING SAID ELEMENT IN AN AXIAL DIRECTION WITH RESPECT TO SAID COLLET. 